StarCraft II
StarCraft II is a sequel to the real-time strategy game StarCraft, announced on May 19, 2007, at the Blizzard World Wide Invitational in Seoul, South Korea.Onyett, Charles. 2007-05-18. IGN: Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational Begins IGN.com, Retrieved 2007-05-19.Park, Andrew. 2007-05-18. GameSpot: Starcraft II warps into Seoul. Gamespot. Retrieved 2007-05-19. It is set to be released as a trilogy.Mike Farley. 2008-10-10. StarCraft II Single Player Is A Trilogy! Kotaku.com Accessed 2008-10-10.Eduardo Vasconcellos. 2008-10-10. Blizzcon 08: StarCraft II Split Into Three Games. IGN. Accessed 2008-10-10. StarCraft II's multiplayer mode is available at no cost.Karune. 2009-06-04. When a player buys the StarCraft II box at retail, they will have the ability to play on the new Battle.net for free. For those listening to the latest Activision Blizzard conference call, Mike Morhaime also mentions it there as well. Why Battle.net 2.0 Needs a Subscription Fee. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-06-04.Medievaldragon. 2009-06-01. E3 2009: Battle.net 2.0 Paid Service a Possibility? StarCraft Wire. Accessed 2009-06-02. Internet access will not be required to play the gameGunnar Petzall. 2009-06-29. StarCraft 2 page 2. Inc.Gamers. Accessed 2009-06-29. but will be required for installation. StarCraft II is available through digital distribution.Webnet. 2009-08-17. Rob Pardo Q&A - Battle.net, Wings of Liberty, and more. StarCraft Source. Accessed 2009-08-29. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty sold 1.5 million copies in its first two daysJohnny Cullen. 2010-08-03. StarCraft II sells 1.5 million units in first 48 hours VG 24/7. Accessed 2010-09-01. and 3 million copies in its first month.Johnny Cullen. 2010-09-01. StarCraft II sells 3 million in first month on sale. VG 24/7. Accessed 2010-09-01. It was the best-selling game of July 2010.Johnny Cullen. 2010-08-13. July NPD 2010 – StarCraft II best-selling software with 721k VG 24/7. Accessed 2010-09-01. Blizzard intends to continue support StarCraft II years after release, in a similar manner to the StarCraft patches, which have been updated more than ten years after the release of the original StarCraft.Frank Pearce, Leord, AusGamers. 2008-09-19. AusGamers Video Interview with Frank Pearce. IncGamers/AusGamers. Accessed 2008-09-19. The Trilogy The game will be split into three separate products, based around the terran, zerg and protoss campaigns respectively. The first is called StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, the second will be called StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm and the third will be called StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void.Mike Farley. 2008-10-10. StarCraft II Single Player Is A Trilogy! Kotaku.com Accessed 2008-10-10.Eduardo Vasconcellos. 2008-10-10. Blizzcon 08: StarCraft II Split Into Three Games. IGN. Accessed 2008-10-10. The story team has moved on to the Heart of the Swarm.Chris Metzen, Justin Kranzl. 2010-04-28. Interview: Blizzard’s Chris Metzen on the WoW movie, Heart of the Swarm, more. VG247. Accessed 2010-06-26.2010-04-30, GiantBomb: Chris Metzen Talks StarCraft II and World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. Blizzplanet, accessed on 2010-05-06 Blizzard Entertainment chose this route due to the challenges they faced creating the campaigns. Through a trilogy, they can create more content per campaign, such as movies, sets, props, characters, missions (including Easter egg missions) and so forth. Each character will have their own arcs, missions and dialog.Rob Pardo. 2008-10-10. Starcraft 2 Trilogy Announcement. Wegame.com Accessed 2008-10-12. The story has been designed so that no previous knowledge of StarCraft is required to enjoy it.Inside look at Blizzard's upcoming Starcraft II, OCregister. Accessed on 2009-07-23 The three campaigns do not occur simultaneously in-universe. Rather, they occur in chronological order,StarCraft Legacy staff. 2009-04-04. StarCraft II Lore Panel. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed on 2009-05-12 each campaign beginning immediately after its predecessor.2007-17-11, StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 46. Karune. Accessed on 2008-18-11 Each campaign will have 26-30 missions in total (including branching missions) and a set ending, rather than a cliff-hanger. The latter two expansions are expected to take over a year to release.Dustin Browder, Bob Colayco, Chris Sigaty, Brad. 2008-10-17. Q&A: The Starcraft II Brain Trust. Giant Bomb News. Accessed 2008-10-20. All three races were completely developed for the multiplayer skirmish mode. Trilogy Features Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void are considered to be expansion setsKarune. 2008-10-14. StarCraft II Trilogy FAQ. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-10-17. and will be priced as such.'Webnet. 2009-08-17. Rob Pardo Q&A - Battle.net, Wings of Liberty, and more. ''StarCraft Source. Accessed 2009-08-29. Rob Pardo later described them as expansions from a multiplayer standpoint (much like Brood War) but sequels from a campaign standpoint.Russ Frushtick. 2010-08-23. Blizzard Gives An Update On 'StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm'. MTV Multiplayer. Accessed 2010-08-24. Each will upgrade and expand multiplayer content in addition to containing a campaign, such as the possibility of new units, abilities and structures. New units available in the expansions can only be accessed if a player buys the expansion. Each product would have upgrades to the multiplayer, "that's the whole point of the expansion or the second part".Chris Sigaty, Tracy John. 2009-10-11. Producer Breaks Down Key 'StarCraft II' Trilogy Details, Defends Decision For Split. MTV Multiplayer. Accessed 2009-09-20. Each race will be enhanced in some way.Dustin Browder et al. Världsexklusiv Starcraft 2-intervju! (17:25). Press 2 Play. Accessed 2009-06-17. Blizzard plans on adding "drawing" functionality for referees in Heart of the Swarm.''Zarhym. 2010-03-12. #BlizzChat Developer Chat on Twitter – 3/12. ''Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2010-03-13. Development History Development on the game began shortly after Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne back in July 2003.Stapleton, Dan. "StarCraft II." PC Gamer Magazine 164 (August 2007): 20-30. The game entered full production c. 2004."We did break ground on “StarCraft II” in 2003, but wasn’t in full production for another year or so." Rob Pardo, Kristin Kalning. 2007-05-31. Can Blizzard top itself with 'StarCraft II?' MSNBC. Accessed 2010-02-08. The development was ramped up shortly after the production of World of Warcraft which was when Blizzard Entertainment hired Dustin Browder: March 14th, 20052007-07-20. StarCraft 2: Interview mit Dustin Browder (in German) GameStar. Accessed 2007-07-22. to the position of senior designer.Mielke, James. 2007-07-27. Protoss for a Day. 1up.com Accessed 2007-07-28. He later became the lead designer.2007-05-19. Gameplay Trailer. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2007-08-12. The conception was for a re-imagining of the original game, having more units but staying true to its spirit.2010-02-17, Medievaldragon, interviews Starcraft II Team celebrating closed beta launch (Rob Pardo & Chris Sigaty). Blizzplanet, accessed on 2010-02-18 Blizzard designed the races around cool units, rather than having specific plans for the races.Dustin Browder, Adam Biessener. 2010-04-08. An Extensive Interview With StarCraft II's Design Director. Game Informer. Accessed 2010-04-09. The game was updated approximately once a week during development.Also remember that the game changes in balance or design about once a week. This means it's VERY easy to forget to do something in the middle of a heated game. So our games are just not going to be as fierce as current Broodwar games until sometime during (or even after) Beta when everything settles down a bit. Cavez (Dustin Browder). 2009-01-08. Introducing StarCraft II Battle Reports (page 5). Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-01-09. Addressing rumors, Karune stated that StarCraft II will be released before Diablo III. Karune. 2009-09-10. StarCraft II will be available before Diablo 3. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-09-10. The game was still in internal alpha/pre-alpha in August, 2008.Jon Wilcox, Frank Pearce, Bob Colayco. 2008-08-29. StarCraft II Q&A Feature. TVG Accessed 2008-08-30.Onyett, Charles, Frank Pearce. 2008-08-20. GC 2008: StarCraft II Progress Report: The process of fine-tuning continues. IGN. Accessed 2008-08-20. Two weeks before BlizzCon 2008, the entire company played StarCraft II, an important milestone.Chris Sigaty, Samwise Didier. Blizzcon 2008 StarCraft 2 Press Q&A. StarCraft Source. Accessed 2008010-12. The exposition match played at BlizzCon 2008 was referred to as an "alpha" version but also a "pre-alpha" versionBlizzcon Video Archive (Sonkie vs Yellow). Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2008-10-19. and in Battle Report II it was referred to as an alpha version.Dustin Browder, Robert Simpson, Matt Cooper, David Kim. 2008-12-19. Battle Report (2). Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2009-04-16. Mike Morhaime expected the game to launch by the end of 2009"There will be a Starcraft II beta test later this summer, and Morhaime offers to get anyone in attendance into the program. Morhaime expects to launch Starcraft II by the end of the year, though also notes that it will only ship once the game is done." Mike Morhaime, Brendan Sinclair. 2009-05-31. Starcraft II by end of 2009, Call of Duty expanding to new genres. Gamespot. Accessed 2009-06-01. but this has been delayed to at least 2010 to give adequate time to prepare Battle.net.Cydra. 2009-08-05. StarCraft II Update. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-08-05. Approaching Beta A StarCraft II beta key was released at BlizzCon 2008.BlizzCon 2008: Day One Wrap-Up. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2008-10-17. In February 2009 Blizzard COO Chris Sams said the beta was "months away".Michael McWhertor. 2009-02-11. StarCraft II, Next Gen Battle.net Betas "In The Next Few Months". Kotaku. Accessed 2009-02-11. That same month Dustin Browder addressed criticisms that the beta was taking too long to announce, saying they Blizzard still needed to do work on the campaign and on battle.net, and that the beta would be announced when they had an idea what the release date would be. He also believed the beta would be announced in 2009.I see lots of questions about timelines. Here is a little FAQ. Question: "Why hasn't Blizzard released the Beta?" or "WTF have they been working on, I played it at Blizzcon last year and I thought it was done!" Answer: Solo campaign is under heavy construction as is Battlenet. When these things have enough work done that we know when our release date is going to be with strong confidence we will announce the Beta. Unless something crazy happens, the Beta is going to happen this year. Question: "Why don't you just give us your target dates if you don't know the final date? We promise, we won't get mad if Blizzard misses target dates." Answer: Let's be realistic. Our target dates are not something we hit more than half the time. Putting those out there would be pretty close to lying to the fans. We are not going to do that. We want to be able to give good info, not info that we know is suspect. We'll give target dates when we think it is very likely that we will hit them. Question: When can we have the next Battle Report? Answer: We were waiting on getting some improved graphics in (some of the new stuff looked REALLY rough). That was finished last week and we are now playing and looking for a good game. Once we get that game the process is reasonably quick to get it out. Once we go Beta, you guys can do these and put them up. When that happens I'm sure there will be a ton of them and I'm sure the quality of the games played and the announcing will go way up. Question: "I notice that you haven't actually given us any dates...." Answer: Yeah. Sorry. We don't want to lie about the Beta, and we don't even want to lie about the next Battle Report. When we know a date (for anything) for certain, we'll let you know. Hang in there. We're in the final stretch. Cavez. 2009-02-16. Some Updates. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-02-16. In August 2009 Blizzard announced that StarCraft II would not be released in 2009, and would instead be released in the first half of 2010.Cydra. 2009-08-05. StarCraft II Update. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forums. Accessed 2009-08-05. StarCraft II beta was announced in February 2010 and released on the 17th of that month.Avarius. 2010-02-17. StarCraft II Beta Is Now Live! Battle.net StarCraft II Beta Forum. Accessed 2010-02-17. The beta closed on July 19th.Lylirra. 2010-07-16.StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Beta Test Draws to a Close. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2010-07-17.Zarhym. 2010-07-20. What A Long, Strange Trip It’s Been. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2010-07-20. It had a day one patch.John Callaham. 2010-03-09. StarCraft II to get Day 1 patch at launch. Big Download News. Accessed 2010-07-06. Developers The lead designer for StarCraft II is Dustin Browder.2007-05-19. Gameplay Trailer. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2007-08-12. The team devoted to StarCraft II consisted of only about 40 developers in 2008, including twelve people who worked on the original StarCraft.Zerg Announcement Interview (translated). StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2008-03-10. The team consists of four or five managers, 12-14 programmers, 8-10 artists and the rest consist of designers. It has its own internal leadership structure.Frank Pearce, Bob Colayco, Adam Doree. 2008-09-11. Interview: Blizzard Co-founder Frank Pearce. Kikizo. Accessed 2008-09-19. A "couple" of ex-progamers are part of the team, working on balance issues such as mutalisk micromanagement and creating strategies against each other. By June 2009 the team had expanded to about 50 membersJune 25, 2009. David Kim Interview. StarCraft Zone. Accessed 2009-11-06. and by August it had expanded to 60 members.Dustin Browder et al. 2009-09-04. BlizzCon 2009 StarCraft 2 Fansite Q&A - Part 2/5. Youtube. Accessed 2009-10-07. As of September 2009 StarCraft II has 58 unique voice actors. Some play more than one role.Karune. 2009-09-30. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 53. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-09-30. Gameplay StarCraft II multiplayer gameplay features the original three gameplaying races and no new races. StarCraft II retains some units from the original game, although some of these units have been given new abilities. Due to story events from the previous game, some units have been phased out or replaced. For example, the conquest of the protoss homeworld of Aiur has prevented the creation of more dragoons – the transplanted forms of protoss warriors in exoskeletons – resulting in the remaining dragoons to be redesigned with different weaponry and a shield that absorbs heavy damage and renamed to "immortals".Blizzard Entertainment. 2007-05-19. Immortal. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2007-09-06. Retrieved 19 May 2007 The number of units in the game will not significantly change. For every new unit added, one "underused" unit has been removed.Rausch, Allen 'Delsyn'. 2007-05-20. Gamespy Panel Report. Gamespy. Retrieved 2007-05-21.Edwards, Tim. 2007-11-07. Terran-forming. CVG PC Gamer. Accessed 2007-11-08. There are six levels of AI script difficulty: very easy, easy, medium, hard, very hard and insane. The insane AI mode is the only one which "cheats".Deep.Thought. 2009-08-18. StarCraft II Single Player Fact Sheet. StarCraft Wire. Accessed 2009-09-07. Multiplayer Gaming StarCraft II is also designed to focus more heavily on the multiplayer aspect, when compared to the original StarCraft. The changes include overall improvement in Battle.net, a new competitive "ladder" system for ranked games, and new automated matchmaking mechanics – designed to "match-up" players of equal skill levels. Resource sharing between allies will also be allowed after 2 minutes. The game is currently set to have eight players. The number of players in custom games is expected to be at least 8, and Blizzard is "shooting" for 12 or more.Avez. 2009-02-09. Max amount of players on custom maps? Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-02-09. There are sixteen slots,Acrofan. 2009-11-27. GStar 2009 - StarCraft II Event Match : Part 2/2. Youtube. Accessed 2009-11-30. up to eight of which can be filled by players, the rest by observers.Actually, no. As mentioned those are only observer spots. The player limit is still 8 players. :) Xordiah. 2009-11-30. Player Limit Raised !!! Proof!. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-11-30. Up to 12 players can play in custom games.Dustin Browder. 2009-06-29. StarCraft II Multiplayer Interview Part 1. Gametrailers. Accessed 2009-08-01. The supply cap is 200. Blizzard Entertainment intended to make the game fun for beginner and intermediate players, as well as give expert players more depth in gameplay.Karune. 2008-07-16. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 41. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-07-16. As each installment of the trilogy is released, multiplayer will, for all intents and purposes, be updated in a manner similar to the relationship between StarCraft and its expansion – both can be played, but the latter features more content.2008-10-13. BlizzCon Chris Sigaty StarCraft 2 Interview. IncGamers. Accessed on 2008-10-14 Players can communicate with a minimap ping/telestrator. Players can each pause the game three times in a skirmish. Gameplay Differences from StarCraft *The script-driven AI,Chris Sigaty, ScuttleMonkey et al. 2008-10-15. Blizzard Answers Your Questions, From Blizzcon. Slash Dot. Accessed 2008-10-25. programmed by Bob Fitch, has been improved; it will scout more and make decisions accordingly.Karune. 2008-02-08. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 29. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-06-06. It won't be able to see everything its opponent player has,2008-10-13. BlizzCon Chris Sigaty StarCraft 2 Interview. IncGamers. Accessed on 2008-10-14 except in insane mode.Nick Breckon. 2009-08-17. StarCraft 2 Interview: Lead Producer Talks LAN, Expansions, Editor Features and More. Shacknews. Accessed 2009-08-28. The AI will even surrender, saying GG when it does so. Cydra. 2009-09-01. Starcraft 2 A. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-09-01. *The damage system has been significantly altered. Units now do base damage with bonuses against certain unit classes. *Certain zerg units can not only burrow but also move underground allowing these units to move right past enemies and possibly into their bases more easily. *When a player's main buildings are destroyed, they are eventually revealed. *Given time, Blizzard would like to make various upgrades be seen visually on the upgraded units, similar to marines' shields. I <3 SC Contest : Blizzard Interview. Judge Hype StarCraft II. Accessed on 2008-03-10 *Units will be able to pass through shallow water.http://i36.tinypic.com/2ewek2d.jpg2008-10-10. Screenshots. SC2pod. Accessed 2008-10-11. *Destructible rocks will have viewable hit points and can be destroyed by any attacking unit. *Xel'naga towers are neutral structures or doodads which can be temporarily captured by units. This expands that player's viewing area. *Customizable decals can be added to terran structures and units, showing various faction logos.We are exploring various 'customizable' traits with those decals, though nothing has been nailed down for sure yet. When we do, I'll make sure to keep everyone updated. Karune. 2008-05-23. StarCraft II Unit Update: Baneling. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-05-25. *Multiple animations exist for units that are idle. *Players will be able to choose their color before a custom match starts. *In some allied games, the allies share a choke point. Line of Sight Rules *Maps start out explored (but hidden due to the fog of war) rather than completely blacked out as in StarCraft I. *Terrain combat bonuses have been removed. However, terrain is still important in a battle. For instance, units that attack from a ledge cannot be targeted by the units being attacked. **Units at the base of a ramp will not be able to target opponents beyond the top of the ramp, but will be able to see brief flashes of attacking units. Units that reach halfway up the ramp will have unrestricted vision above the ramp.to comment on page 2 in regards to LOS on rampsIf the attacking units move halfway up the ramp, they get their full vision radius above the ramp. If the ramp is blocked at the bottom, the attacking units will not be able to target what is beyond the top of the ramp, though they will be able to see snapshots of units that attack them so they will be able to understand the scale of the threat that exists at the top of the ramp. Karune. 2008-06-11. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 40. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-06-11. **"Line of sight blockers" will enable units to ambush each other, resembling bushes, smoke (emitted from vents on space platforms) and tall grass. Air units can easily see through the blockers. Control Scheme * F-key functionality for screen-switching is in StarCraft II, accessed by pressing F4 through F8. * When a ghost paints a target area for a nuclear missile, a large visible nuclear symbol appears to the player and his allies. The small red dot is still all that is seen by other players. *A player can select 255 units.255 last i heard Correct. And you have 200 pop limit. Cydra, Bob1. 2009-05-07. Question for Blues. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-05-07.Exclusive Karune's answers for StarCraftCZ.com. StarCraftCZ.com Accessed 2008-06-03. **Up to 200 units can be held within a numbered control group but they form into "subgroups" of 24 or 36, each with a little number beside their icons. **The selection UI displays how many units are in the group. **Control group tabs will display what units are bound to each group number. **Subgroups allow the player to scroll through different type of units in their current selection with the Tab key. If a group of multiple unit types are selected, the player still has access to their abilities by tabbing through the subgroups. *Some spellcasting units will use "smartcasting"; when multiple units are given the same spell order, only one of them will comply, preventing a serious waste of spellcaster energy. * A player can select multiple buildings. **Multiple selected combat buildings can "focus fire" on enemy units. **They can be put into selection groups. The player pushes a button to create each individual unit from the group of structures. This applies even to larvae. **Each structure will show how many units they are creating or (in the case of zerg hatcheries), how many larvae are available. Units will be produced at the structure with the shortest queue. * A player can set a rally point for a "town hall" to a mineral or vespene source and workers will mine the resource automatically when built and will split up over multiple mineral patches. Units will move to the rally point. Units exit a building closest to the rally point (rather than at one specific point). **Two rally points are able to be set on a hatchery; one for drones and another for warrior units. *Units can be rallied to bunkers and transports. *Units can be rallied to follow other units. * Idle worker units can be quickly selected with F1, the idle worker button. *Player units "won't line up like ants" when given a move command. Units will not bunch up unless given a manual attack command against a specific enemy unit. If so, they will spread apart when the enemy unit dies or they become idle. Units won't pass through each other. However, idle units will move out of the way of moving units. (Active, directly controlled forces would rarely display this behavior.) *Holding the Alt button will show unit and building hit points overhead. The player can change the option on the menu for this: normal (only show when holding Alt), selected (selected units only) or always (show all unit bars). *SCVs can autocast their Repair ability. Carriers can auto-build their interceptors. The new medivac dropships can autocast Heal just as medics could in StarCraft: Brood War. Changelings autocast their shapeshifting ability. *Spellcasting and burrowing can be set into waypoints. *Allies will be able to see each others' resources. When an allied player leaves, the remaining ally gets the rest of their resources and units. *Workers can queue up building orders with the shift key, but will need to have the resources for all the buildings to be constructed. If they don't have enough, they won't pause until there's enough resources and then start building again. *Control groups are shown as "panels" above the minimap (for units) and portrait (for buildings) in the UI. Macromanagement and Resource Mechanics :Main articles: Macromanagement in StarCraft II, Vespene gas Resource clusters will generally have two vespene gas geysers. High Yield Resources Gold-colored "high yield mineral fields" have been added to the game. These minerals are worth more per "chunk" transported by a worker unit.Expansion sites containing gold minerals will be worth fighting over, creating a new strategy around which expansion sites to claim. They provide 7 minerals per trip. Battle.net and Metagame Functionality :Main article: Battle.net 2.0 Blizzard Entertainment released a new version of battle.net with ''StarCraft II. Frank Pearce said they probably won't be able to implement all plans by the time StarCraft II launches, but they can add more features to battle.net "as we go".Phil Elliott, Frank Pearce. 2008-09-02. Blizzard's Frank Pearce. GamesIndustry.biz. Accessed 2008-09-02. StarCraft II will not have LAN support.Frank Pearce, Tamer Asfahani. 2010-05-28. Blizzard's Frank Pearce Interview Page 4. Inc.Gamers. Accessed 2010-06-07. Internet access will not be required to play the gameGunnar Petzall. 2009-06-29. StarCraft 2 page 2. Inc.Gamers. Accessed 2009-06-29. but will be required for installation. Blizzard expects requiring internet access for some features to not be a problem, since computers come standard with internet connections now (unlike when StarCraft came out).Dustin Browder, Dave Remo. 2009-10-26. The Design of StarCraft II (page 3). Gamasutra. Accessed 2009-10-26. Players of StarCraft II and Diablo III share "gamer achievements", adding up to a Blizzard Level, in a similar manner to the system in World of Warcraft.Tracey John. 2008-08-01. Blizzard Plans To Track Gamer Achievements Across ‘WoW,’ ‘Starcraft’ And ‘Diablo’. MTV Multiplayer. Accessed 2008-08-01. While achievements can be accessed in the single-player game, this is only possible if the gamer is connected to battle.net. Players will not require internet access to play single-player games, although they are encouraged to do so. The game did not launch with the ability to display replays to multiple users.Rob Pardo et al. 2009-07-02. IGTV: StarCraft 2 Developer Interview. Inc.Gamers TV. Accessed 2009-07-04. Custom games allow "handicaps" for different players. This is set before the match. E-sport Aides Replays are available in StarCraft II as well, for both singleplayer and multiplayer games. Multiplayer games include menus, leaderboards and overlays displaying statistics. StarCraft II features seven observer modes: *None (no menus) *Resources (gathered resources and supply count) *Spending (on economy, tech and units) *Unit (number of units) *Production (units and buildings being created) *Army (resources spent on the army) *APM. These are available in "real time". In Observer Mode, a viewer can watch in the "old style" or in a newer "first person view" in which they see the camera view, selections and commands issued from the player's viewpoint. An observer won't be able to see the actual mouse clicks, however. At the end of the game, build orders, an army graph showing the size of the army over time and a resource graph showing income over time can be displayed. Teaching the Game Blizzard intends to train new players for the multiplayer game, eventually transforming casual gamers into hardcore gamers. The campaign does not act as a tutorial for teaching game mechanics. Instead, the game includes pre-recorded tutorials which players can watch, as well as "challenges", small missions which train players in specific tasks suited for multi-players games such as efficient resource gathering. A challenge would last 5-10 minutes and the player would get a score. Challenges cover topics important to multiplayer, such as resourcing, hotkeys and counters. In addition, players will receive help on why they won or lost a game. There are tutorials for protoss and zerg which players can view before playing them on battle.net. Blizzard expects players who start on battle.net to play cooperatively vs the AI, then move into team play before finally graduating to 1 vs 1. Blizzard considers team play less hectic, as the teammates can support each other. Achievements will be used to direct players along this path. Blizzard expects players to play 30-60 hours of the game before they begin playing 1 vs 1.Dustin Browder, Adam Biessener. 2010-04-08. An Extensive Interview With StarCraft II's Design Director (page 2). Game Informer. Accessed 2010-04-09. Leagues :Main article: Leagues Leagues are part of the tool system making multiplayer StarCraft II available for all skill levels, along with the automated matchmaking system. There are copper, bronze, silver, gold, platinum and diamond leagues. There is also a "safer" Practice League, which would involve players of lower skill levels playing on maps designed to prevent rushing at "normal" rather than a faster game speed. Blizzard intends to take steps to prevent "smurfing", when higher-skilled players participate in battle.net games they shouldn't be and disrupt other players.Dustin Browder, Destructoid. 2009-06-29. Destructoid Interview. Destructoid. Accessed 2009-06-29. Races and Units :'' Main article: List of StarCraft II units'' StarCraft II will only feature the three original races in standard multiplayer: protoss, terran, and zerg. It has been confirmed that there will not be a fourth race introduced. Blizzard discussed the possibility of a fourth race early on in the game's development. However, the development team felt that had a finite amount of ideas and wanted to make sure that they focused on the best ideas for the existing three playable races rather than diluting those ideas across four races. In August 2008, Frank Pearce stated that adding a fourth fully playable race would likely be discussed if Blizzard decided to make an expansion for the game, three months before the expansions were announced.2008-29-08. Pearce: Fourth StarCraft II race may be added by expansion. Videogaming 247. Accessed on 2008-30-08 Some units have animations such as air banking, starting and stopping.CoTweet. 2010-02-02. The #StarCraft2 programming team has been busy working on some new unit movement (air banking/start/stop) animations. #SCUpdate. Twitter (StarCraft). Accessed 2010-02-02. Campaigns and Lore The game takes place four years after StarCraft: Brood War.Park, Andrew. 2007-05-20. Blizzard outlines StarCraft II gameplay. Gamespot.Metzen, Chris; Chambers, Andy; StarCraft Legacy staff. 2009-04-03. BlizzCon 2007 StarCraft Lore Panel Editorial. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2009-05-18. The storyline was written by Chris Metzen and Andy Chambers, concurrently with The Dark Templar Saga which was written by Christie Golden. Each of the three campaigns – terran Wings of Liberty, zerg Heart of the Swarm and protoss Legacy of the Void – will be released as separate products.Mike Farley. 2008-10-10. StarCraft II Single Player Is A Trilogy! Kotaku.com Accessed 2008-10-10.Eduardo Vasconcellos. 2008-10-10. Blizzcon 08: StarCraft II Split Into Three Games. IGN. Accessed 2008-10-10. StarCraft II takes place both on new worlds and on worlds that appeared in the original game. Char is back as is Mar Sara. One of the new worlds is Bel'Shir, a jungle-covered protoss-colonized moon that was a religious retreat until it was attacked by the zerg; it now houses many ruined temples. Other new worlds include Redstone III and Monlyth. Jim Raynor continues his adventures along with Infested Kerrigan and Zeratul. The campaign can be played without an internet connection, although Blizzard prefers that it be played online (to enable achievements and special save game features).Michael Graf. 2010-03-25. Starcraft 2 - Exclusive interview with lead designer Dustin Browder. Gamestar. Accessed 2010-03-27. Recent Events :Main article: StarCraft II introduction. # The biggest terran faction in StarCraft II will be the "evil empire" of the Terran Dominion. The Kel-Morian Combine and Umojan Protectorate are currently independent from the Dominion, which is trying to consolidate its power. However, Raynor's Raiders are the main playable faction, and Jim Raynor is referenced as the central character of the terran campaign. # The zerg, under the command of Infested Kerrigan, have pulled back to Char and been quiet for four years. No one knew what Kerrigan is planning as her forces kill all enemy scouting parties. Kerrigan herself says the zerg have evolved and thrived during this period, and are becoming "much, much more, for the final metamorphosis has only just begun."2008-03-18. Zerg Reveal Trailer. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2008-03-21. #Raynor's Raiders have been outlawed by the Terran Dominion. Arcturus Mengsk has continually hounded them, but refused to assassinate Raynor as that could make him a martyr.2008-01-28. Biography (Terran, Jim Raynor). Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2008-01-28. # The United Earth Directorate forces were destroyed by Infested Kerrigan's zerg armies (though a few surviving companies are still around somewhere in the Sector).Blizzard Entertainment staff. 2008-04-16. The Story so Far... Part 2: The Brood War. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2008-04-16. Mythology An overarching thread involving the xel'naga and rumors of hybrid creatures weave through the campaigns. There will be many connections between the StarCraft: Ghost franchise and StarCraft II. For instance, Gabriel Tosh, a character from StarCraft: Ghost Academy, will appear on the Hyperion in Wings of Liberty and will serve as a connection between the two storylines.pR0gR4m3R. 2008-10-16. [BlizzCon08 - StarCraft2 Lore Panel 2/4]. Youtube. Accessed 2008-10-18. The StarCraft: Ghost storyline, especially parts revolving around the Terran Dominion, acted as a building block for StarCraft II.Rob Pardo et al. 2009-07-02. IGTV: StarCraft 2 Developer Interview. Inc.Gamers. Accessed 2009-08-01. Terran Campaign: Wings of Liberty :Main article: Wings of Liberty :Zeratul:' ''"I bring tidings of doom. The xel'naga return, the cycle nears its end, the artifacts are the key." :Jim Raynor: "The key... the key to what?" :Zeratul: "To the end of all things." :- Zeratul delivers a warning to Jim Raynorsrc The terran campaign focuses on Raynor's Raiders, which has become a mercenary force based in the Hyperion. It includes a Zeratul-focused mini-campaign. Blizzard introduced players who are unfamiliar with the storylines of StarCraft I and Brood War to the storyline by introducing a plot summary during the installation process. Zerg Campaign: Heart of the Swarm :Main article: Heart of the Swarm Protoss Campaign: Legacy of the Void :Main article: Legacy of the Void Campaign Structure and Development Blizzard considers the old technique of using the campaign to teach new gamers how to play multiplayer games online to be something that doesn't work. Instead, Blizzard uses tutorials, challenges, and improved score and replay screens to teach new gamers how to do so, giving them the freedom to add many new units and upgrades to the campaigns.Dustin Browder, Dave Remo. 2009-10-26. The Design of StarCraft II (page 1). Gamasutra. Accessed 2009-10-26. The campaign teaches the players some gameplay skills, often without them realizing it as they're being immersed in the story.Frank Pearce, Bob Colayco, Billy Berghammer. 2008-09-08. Crafting a Sequel for Everyone: The Frank Pearce Interview (page 2). Crispy Gamer. Accessed 2008-09-10. The campaigns is a tree-shaped arrangement, enabling players to choose different passages, level-ups and bonuses. Each campaign will have a distinct beginning and end, but the center portion will vary considerably when played by different people. Each person might try a different set of subquests, and finish them in different ways.Pardo, Rob and Zetaras Xal'Kurat. 2008-06-29. WorldWide Invitational 2008: Pictures, Presentations, Videos (StarCraft II Panel: Evolving Design) SC2 Blog. Accessed 2008-06-30. Usually the player can go back and play "missed" missions; only in rare instances will a choice prevent a player from playing another mission. Decisions made in one campaign will have no effect on the campaign in the next expansion.Karune. 2009-03-19. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 50. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-03-19. Players can get closer to the main characters in interactive sets. It has been confirmed that StarCraft II will not feature a co-operative campaign mode, at least when the game launches. However, Blizzard hasn't excluded the possibility and may install such a function in a future patch or expansion pack. Heroes and NPC units Heroes will not be buildable in melee maps. Each will have a unique appearance.Karune. 2008-05-15. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 38. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forums. Accessed on 2008-05-15. They will fill the same role they did in StarCraft I, "but they will have even more unique abilities from standard units".Karune. 2007-07-23. StarCraft II Q&A - Karune Briefings. StarCraft II General Discussion Forums. Accessed 2007-09-06.Karune. 2007-08-31. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 11. StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2007-08-31. Heroes will not often appear in campaigns, and will have little impact on gameplay. Their role is mostly restricted to "story space". Heroes have unique appearances, including weapons and animations. Heroes have special hotkeys to select them. More generic mercenaries are available in some campaigns. Some units that were "cut" during StarCraft II's development appeared in the single-player campaign as well. Units that have been completely cut, however, did not appear in the campaign or map editor. Other Races The xel'naga will fit into the story "in a rather epic tale" and will be part of the backbone of the trilogy.Mike Schramm, Chris Metzen, Andy Chambers. 2008-10-12. BlizzCon 2008: Starcraft II lore panel. Joystiq. Accessed 2008-10-12. Tilesets StarCraft II features 20 unique tilesets, including the Shattered City environment.Yup, there will be several new tilesets in StarCraft II, including the Shattered City one mentioned in the post above. These aren't quite ready to be revealed yet, but are definitely worth the wait. Karune. 2008-09-26. Karune: new tilesets? Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-09-26. Soundtrack StarCraft II features new soundtracks by Glen Stafford, the soundtrack composer for StarCraft. In addition, edited versions of the StarCraft soundtracks are found in StarCraft II.Browder, Dustin and Shadowie. 2009-05-01. Fan Site Q&A #3 - SC2Pod. SC2pod. Accessed 2009-05-01. Movies StarCraft II features fewer, more epic movies compared to the original. In addition, there are several in-game cutscenes of higher quality than the original games' pre-rendered movies. The number of in-game cinematics exceeds that of pre-rendered cinematics. This is due to the need for fine-tuning cinematics and that pre-rendered cinematics must be planned early on in the development process.2008-11-09. StarCraft II Art Panel. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed on 2008-12-09 Adaptations StarCraft II’s lore is supported by several novels authorized by Blizzard Entertainment. The Dark Templar Saga serves as a prologue to StarCraft II, I, Mengsk is a tie-in to StarCraft IIMcNeill, Graham. 2007-07-05. Monkey Gland Sauce. Graham Mcneill's Weblog. Accessed 2008-07-26. and the StarCraft: Ghost novel Spectres will also serve as a tie-in.DeCandido, Keith R. A. 2008-05-10. [http://kradical.livejournal.com/1270648.html more StarCraft]. KRAD's Inaccurate Guide to Life: ramblings from a mad fedora'd writer Accessed 2008-05-10. Technologies StarCraft II supports the DirectX 9 (Pixel Shader 2.0) software. It will be fully compatible with DirectX 10 as well, which provides access to enhanced graphical effects.Schleicher, Keith. Interview with Blizzard's Kevin Yu on StarCraft II Gaming Trend. Accessed 2007-10-01. The game is compatible with DirectX 11, but will not support features specific to it.Cydra. 2009-11-17. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 55. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-11-17. Source The Mac client utilizes OpenGL, instead. The game also features the Havok physics engine, allowing realistic interaction with the environment, such as "debris roll(ing) down a ramp". The game supports a variety of video cards; ATI Radeon 9800/NVIDIA GeForce FX to ATI Radeon HD 4800s and NVIDIA GeForce G200s."This meant supporting a wide range of hardware, from ATI RadeonTM 9800/NVIDIA GeForceTM FX’s to the ATI RadeonTM HD 4800s and NVIDIA GeForceTM G200s, targeting maximum utilization on each different GPU platform." StarCraft II: Effects and Techniques. Dominic Filion and Rob McNaughton. Ed. N. Tatarchuk. StarCraft II: Effects and Techniques. In Advances in Real‐Time Rendering in 3D Graphics and Games Course – SIGGRAPH 2008. Accessed 2008-08-20. StarCraft II supports screen resolutions from 5:4 to 16:9. Wider screens will have a slightly larger viewable range.Browder, Dustin and Shadowie. 2009-05-01. Fan Site Q&A #3 - SC2Pod. SC2pod. Accessed 2009-05-01.Karune. 2008-01-11. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 25. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2008-01-11. The game supports wide screens but not multiple monitors.Karune. 2009-01-22. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 48. StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-01-22. The minimum resolution is 1024 x 768 x 32 bits.Dustin Browder, Lipton, Karune. 2009-04-22. The Official STARFEEDER Starcraft 2 Q&A. Starfeeder. Accessed 2009-04-22. StarCraft II will support a windowed mode. Game unit models feature about 2000 polygons.Samwise Didier, Dave Berggren. WWI SC2 Art Panel. Brightcove. Accessed 2008-08-01. During game design, 3DSMax was used to create low-polygon unit models, MudBox for high-polygon models, and Photoshop was used to edit textures.Browder, Dustin. (Cavez). 2007-10-29. Question for Karune/Someone who knows. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2007-11-10. Gore can be disabled, but doing so will require restarting the game.Karune. 2007-10-29. Re: Gore Disabling. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forums. Accessed 2007-10-30. StarCraft II is written in 32-bit code but will support 64-bit systems. It has multi-core capability.Chris Sigaty, Samwise Didier. Blizzcon 2008 StarCraft 2 Press Q&A. StarCraft Source. Accessed 2008010-12. The game supports lighting effects, including a light/dark cycle used in some missions. Voice chat is enabled over battle.net, but the audio is not available in replays.Karune. 2009-05-27. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 51. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2009-05-27. Galaxy Map Editor :'' Main article: Galaxy Map Editor'' The game comes with a map editor. The StarCraft II Map Editor will improve upon the World Editor from Warcraft III in every way.Karune. StarCraft II Q&A - Batch 39: Map Maker Series. Battle.net StarCraft II General Discussion Forums. Accessed 2008-05-28. Blizzard intends to support the modding community. Some mods will be available for pay.Blizzard Entertainment staff, Greg Canessa. 2010-02-009. Battle.net Preview. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2010-02-09. Startools Startools, a proprietary toolset, will be included along with Galaxy Map Editor. Startools lets modders design and create doodads.Park, Andrew. 2007-05-19. Blizzard talks Starcraft II art design. Gamespot. Regional Differences StarCraft II has both download and subscription models in Russia, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil and Chile. Players can either download the entire version of the game, or pay a reduced price (about half), which will only offer gameplay for 60 days. Players could then pay another fee for more gameplay.David Hinkle. 2010-05-07. Starcraft 2 offering subscription plans in Latin America, Asia and Russia. Joystiq. Accessed 2010-06-28. South Korean gamers are be able to play three versions of the game. The full game can be purchased for 69,000 won, but a monthly and daily pass version of the game will be available (the game would be unlocked with purchased passes). South Korean players who own a World of Warcraft account will be able to play StarCraft II for free without purchasing passes.Cam Shea. 2010-06-27. Koreans Get StarCraft II For Free! IGN. Accessed 2010-06-28. Players will be able to play at PC baangs for a low price.Bandreus. 2010-06-26. Korean Event Aftermaths, Beta Phase 2 and LAN play. INC.Gamers. Accessed 2010-06-28. Notes StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty comes with a Collector's Edition.Business Wire staff. 2010-04-08. StarCraft® II: Wings of Liberty™ Collector's Edition Announced. Business Wire. Accessed 2010-04-08. Trailers, Demonstrations & Other Videos Blizzard Entertainment made the very first publicly playable demo of StarCraft II available at BlizzCon 2007.Main page of the official Blizzard website. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed June 21, 2007. StarCraft II was featured at E3 2007, July 11th 2007.Karune. 2007-07-09. Starcraft 2 @ E3 2007!. Battle.net StarCraft General Discussion Forum. Accessed 2007-07-09. Only a demo was viewable, not a playable version. StarCraft II was featured at BlizzCon 2007, August 3rd to 4th, 2007. Terrans and Protoss were playable. The same two races were playable at GenCon Indy.Medievaldragon. 2007-08-21. Starcraft II Gencon Indy 2007 Video. Blizzplanet. Accessed 2007-08-22. The game was available at the 2007 Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany, August 22nd to 26th 2007.2007-08-20. Blizzard Entertainment® Showcases Playable Titles at Leipzig Games Convention Blizzard Entertainment Accessed 2007-08-20. Official Videos The official videos featured Blizzard Entertainment employees making official announcements. Most are stored on the official website for StarCraft II, established and maintained by Blizzard Entertainment. WWI 2007 Videos * First artwork trailer, showing a large number of scanned concept art drawings/paintings for StarCraft II and another protoss/terran battle on a different map than the first official gameplay demo video.2007-05-19. Artwork Trailer. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2007-08-12. thumb|300px|Announcement trailer. * First cinematic trailer, introducing Tychus Findlay and showing in detail the involved, robotic process of installing Tychus Findlay's marine armor.2007-05-19. Cinematic Trailer. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2007-08-12. * First official gameplay demo, giving a tour by means of a video recorded from an apparently mission-like game from the protoss view point that demonstrates and describes the protoss warp gate ability, updated zealot, the new immortal, the new terran reaper, the (now renamed) phase prism, the stalker, the new zerg nydus worm and classic zerglings, the ability to combine phase prisms and warp gate ability to create a significant force anywhere on the map, massive new colossus units, the ability for classic zerglings to mutate into new banelings, the classic mutalisks, new Phoenix, classic terran battlecruiser, new (now renamed) warp ray, and the "ultimate" unit of StarCraft II: the mothership. It finished with a terran/protoss brawl which ended with three ghosts each launching a nuke that wiped out the entirety of the protoss and terran forces involved in the brawl (with the exception of the ghosts) and then zerglings killed the ghosts and forming up the letters 'GG' as they mutated into banelings. BlizzCon 2007 Videos Blizzard Entertainment showcased several videos at BlizzCon 2007. *'Terran Gameplay Trailer:' Shown at BlizzCon 2007, this video demonstrated terran units such as the Banshee, ghost and Thor.2007-09-13. Gameplay Video - Terran. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2007-09-14. *'Terran Campaign Trailer:' Also shown at BlizzCon, this video demonstrated some of the mechanics behind the new terran campaign, as well as discussions between Jim Raynor and other characters.2007-08-03. StarCraft II Single-Player Campaign BlizzCon Preview. Gamespot. Accessed 2007-08-07. *'Art Video:' A discussion featuring the artwork of StarCraft II.2007-08-03. BlizzCon StarCraft art/graphics panel discussion The Unofficial Starcraft 2 Forums @ IncGamers Accessed 2007-08-07. *'Lore Video:' Chris Metzen and Andy Chambers discussed the lore of the StarCraft universe. March 2008 Videos Blizzard Entertainment held a press event in March 2008 to showcase the Zerg. p4vPidUIoo4 *'Zerg Reveal Trailer:' At the event, Blizzard Entertainment showed a video featuring the zerg including a voice over.2008-03-18. Zerg Reveal Trailer. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2008-03-21. WWI 2008 Blizzard Entertainment hosted the World Wide Invitational in June 28 to 29, 2008. Live streaming video of panels and games were shown.2008-06-28. Live Video Streams. Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed 2008-06-28. BlizzCon 2008 thumb|300px|''The Prophecy'' (shown here in full) was previewed at BlizzCon 2008. At BlizzCon 2008, Blizzard showed several videos, including the first minutes of the StarCraft II cinematic, The Prophecy. At the time, it may have been the game's opening cinematic.2008-10-11. Starcraft II: BlizzCon 08: Opening Cinematic Teaser (CAM). Gametrailers. Accessed 2008-10-11. Commercials thumb|StarCraft II Commercial thumb|Korean Air StarCraft II Commercial Ghosts of the Past Ghost of the Past trailer StarCraft: Ghost in StarCraft II Nova will appear in a StarCraft II mission.BlizzLive staff. 2009-08-22. StarCraft II Lore Panel. Blizzlive. Accessed 2009-08-22.Medievaldragon. 2009-07-30. Starcraft II Single Player Hands On: Mining Your Own Business. Blizzplanet. Accessed 2009-08-18. Horace Warfield's presence will be felt as well.Zero. 09/08/17. July 20, 2009 Wings of Liberty Single Player Info. StarCraft Legacy. Last accessed: 09/08/17. A Nova-centered cinematic appears on a TV screen in StarCraft II.Blizzcon 2008 StarCraft 2 Gameplay Panel Demo Part 2/2. Blizzard Entertainment\YouTube. Accessed on 2008-12-11 Certain assets from StarCraft: Ghost, such as interior installation art, will appear in StarCraft II.Samwise Didier. 2009-08-25. StarCraft: Ghost Lives On In StarCraft II. Kotaku. Accessed 2009-09-03. References External links * [http://www.starcraft2.com/ Official StarCraft II website] * [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StarCraft_II StarCraft II at Wikipedia] * StarCraft Legacy * Blizzard Artwork Trailer (YouTube) * [http://media.pc.ign.com/media/850/850126/imgs_1.html Gameplay screenshots of StarCraft II] courtesy IGN * Order Starcraft II @ Amazon * StarCraft II GPU and CPU Performance Report StarCraft II Category: Games